“I am the man who kidnapped Livvie. I am the man who held her in a dark room for weeks. I’m the one who tied her to a bedpost and beat her. I’m the one who nearly sold her into sexual slavery. But, most importantly, I am the man she loves. She loves me. It’s quite sick, isn’t it?”

What a difference a year makes…

In a year, Livvie, now living as Sophia in Spain, has made a new life for herself. Not knowing if she’d ever see the man who not only kidnapped her, but managed to steal her heart as well. Caleb left her, he just left. And after a year, Livvie is almost normal. She has a job, goes to school, has two very close friends; life is finally starting to look up despite the fact she can no longer have contact with her family or anyone else from her former life. Except James…

“I felt incapable of speech. I had wanted her for so long. I had dreamt of her in my sleeping hours and ached for her in my waking ones. There was nothing I could say to compare with the intense elation and satisfaction of finally having that which I had desired for so very long. Nothing except— “I love you.”

When Livvie and Caleb reconnect after so much time has passed, it’s hard to establish the basics of their new relationship. Livvie is less than trusting because of what had happened between them and Caleb is trying to come to grips with his new reality as a “normal” guy.

Promises of leaving his former life behind and not ever leaving Livvie again go hand-in-hand with the strong emotions ripped from both of them; actions, not words.

“What I found more frightening than the dream was a voice in my head telling me I’d never let Livvie go. Mine. Mine forever. If you’re sighing with contentment, you’re either one sick fuck or you don’t grasp the seriousness of the situation. While I no longer kill, I am a killer. A killer in love is a very dangerous thing.”

So, with this relationship doomed before it began, Caleb does everything in his power to prove he is really here to stay. And having him tell about this new journey from his point of view is very intriguing. Men are notoriously blunt and reading the end of their beginning brought tears to my eyes. No matter how they began, they were meant for each other. Whether they are Livvie and Caleb or Sophia and James; they are connected forever. I love that…as twisted as it seems, I love it. And I loved this beautiful ending to a very dark beginning.